According to Digiday’s semi-annual poll of predominately digital
agencies, brands, publishers and ad networks or intermediaries, the rate
of planning television and online video ads together
will grow by more than 50% in the coming year. Specifically, 48% of
advertisers and
agencies already are planning TV and video together, and 25% more will
be doing so within the next 12 months. Among
leading video buyers, nearly three quarters of all online video buyers
will be planning TV and interactive video together by this time next
year.

Given the choice of with which medium online
video should be most aligned – TV, online display or “other” –
respondents said TV by more than 23% over those who said display. An 11%
minority still said they
think online
video represents a new medium entirely, but even fewer respondents
suggested that online video might be a replacement for TV.

Online Video Alignment (% of Respondents)

Response

TV

Display

Neither

Align with

49%

40%

11%

Time frame

Within 12 months

25%

Current plan

48%

Source: AdapTV/Dididay, April
2012

Nearly two-thirds of respondents across the industry (62%) said that their use of online video is more likely to be a
complement to TV rather than a replacement for TV, up slightly from last year.

How
Video Buyers View Online Video

View

%
of Respondents

As direct complement to TV

62%

As
replacement for TV

10

Neither

28

Source: AdapTV/Dididay, April 2012

That said, only 20% of advertisers said they expect to buy
their video advertising this year “at an upfront,” and for 54% of respondents it was anticipated to
be less than 5% of their total 2012 purchase, down 10% from 2011.

Two-thirds of buyers say that a key factor in fusing TV and online video is unified measurement. 73% of respondents say that
brand engagement is their primary campaign objective.

Though
“brand lift” was cited by both advertisers and their agencies as the
best metric of success in measuring online
video
ad campaigns, the two remain divided when it comes to click-throughs.
Agencies put click-throughs near the bottom of their list of favored
metrics, but brands ranked it third, ahead of common TV
metrics. And, TV-centric metrics, GRP and TRP, have moved into double
digits now reflecting industry efforts to try to synergize television
and digital video metrics.

A key impetus to online
video ad buying is a marked rise in video inventory sourcing via automated environments. Advertisers
who are demanding pricing efficiency are finding it from:

Exchanges (29% vs. 15% in
2011)

Demand-side platforms or DSPs (32% vs. 15% in 2011)

Trading desks (27%)

Overall,
the outlook for online video budgets is strong, with 96% of brands,
agencies and ad networks estimating that their budgets will increase an
average of 23% in 2012. Greater than 80% of publishers said that CPMs
are up an average of 11% from 2011. More than 83% of
publishers said
their fill rate is up by nearly 14% from last year.

For the year ahead, the study analysis concludes that the industry should:

Look for growth to continue in
online video ad uptake, in tandem with digital television planning

Look for publishers to accelerate efforts to move video buyers onto private marketplaces but also to expand their efforts
into custom and branded content as a way of deepening their most important one-to-one relationships

Look for both
buyers and sellers to try to coalesce around an engagement metric for SiSoMo
that aligns campaign aims in both television and online video

Expect the continued expansion of RTB platforms in online video, and for buying efficiencies participants experience to put
pressure on television content producers to offer similar buying solutions to displace the television upfront once and for all